Rnd 3 Post Match - Eagles v Power

[once_were_warriors]

34 shots to 11, and 68 inside 50s to just 25. Could have been another triple figure win to the Power reserves.

How's Wundke moving this season? Has had a pretty modest start.

Much better than his scaredy cat mate, who missed for a second week due to 'concussion'!

No surprises there ! Probably still getting the pay check ....

Was hard at it it when he got smashed and suffered concussion against Central , not soft there. You two keyboard warriors on the other hand I bet would jump at shadows on a bright sunny day.

[Mr Fuller]

John butcher injured or had a day out? Win by 10 goals and he has 3 kicks

Was well and truly thrashed by Von Bertouch who IMO opinion is clearly the second best CHB at the moment behind Miles.

After failing to gain a possession Butcher was sent to CHB and did stuff all (not tha the ball went down there too often ). He was then sent to the ruck where Bornholm beat him easily with hit outs. Finally, he was banished to the bench in the last quarter. If the is 'the future' Port supporters shouldn't be in any hurry to get there!

McGregor had a quiet day mainly through lack of supply but also because he was standing an opponent who was just a tad better in standard to the last two. Of the touches he did get they were class including a quick handpass on the wing done under immense pressure which contributed to a running goal to the southern end - probably the eagles best highlight of the day. He also kicked a clever roving goal and almost took a 'hanger' up the northern end (which would have ended up in a goal if he held it) but just didn't control it long enough on the way down. Still, someone who plays his position should not be expected to kick 4-5 goals each week.

Someone else asked about Wundke. Was terrible today. Again, he suffered lack of delivery but his weight means he can't run and most of his goals this year have been through free kicks or through pushing out an opponent one-on-one. The latter was always going to be difficult against an AFL player so he became a liabilitiy with his inabilty to hold the ball in the forward 50. He is one who desperately needs Ainger and Grocke back so the focus can be on them rather than himself.

Slightly off note - was anyone standing near that huge tree branch which snapped off during the match up the northern end? The sound was audible from where I was standing in the southern pocket. Just hoping there was no kid or something playing under it when it snapped off!!

[kickinit]

an SANFL player who only trains for 4-6 hour a week!!

Huh? SANFL players are "at the club" a lot more than that. This is why so many kids are playing country and amateur league footy. They got sick of training 5 days a week plus game day for $75. They can train one night at Mt Compass, for example, and get paid $800.

A typical SANFL player:
Monday - light training run match review.
Tuesday - weights session, massage, rehab.
Wednesday - main training session.
Thursday - day off.
Friday - Team meeting, light training run, generally touch work, game structure.
Saturday - Game day.
Sunday - Rehab Session.

Correct that is pretty close to the training requirements of each SANFL club although some might combine the Monday/Tuesday sessions into just the 1.

Plus add the gym session they put in on their own time.

[PhilH]

Thankfully no one injured when a tree in scoreboard pocket dropped a large branch from a great height.

[Brendan M]

As Bill Woodfull might have said today, 'there are two teams out there and only one is playing SANFL'. But we had more of the crowd, more of the noise (when we scored) and we saved the best to last by playing 'cheers, cheers the black and the white' repeatedly after the siren.

[SimonH]

Eagles 8.3 51
Power 15.19 109
...
If the Power continue to have access to this team and play with the intent of winning I am sorry but there is simply no SANFL side that will close to them. Norwood were pretty lucky to play them first round when they were still sorting out their structure. It was clear right from the beginning that their skills are at a much higher level (less out-of bounds on the full, no kicking into man on the mark, pinpoint passing) while it was clear in the last quarter that their fitness base is far greater.

Port's skills in round 1 vs Norwood were notably bad, at least for the first half. Sure, there was some rust; but remember this was a side that had looked like gold for most of the practice matches, so it wasn't just lack of practice. Anyone's skills can fall away when they're constantly harassed, feel implicit pressure, lose confidence etc. The fitness base point is still valid, provided that the vast majority of the side is AFL-listed (i.e. full-time professional footballers). This is true right now, but unlikely to remain true all year.

This result, where the margin seemingly flattered the loser, against arguably the best real SANFL club at the moment, could certainly ring alarm bells. However, here is the current injury list, for both the Port Adelaide AFL and SANFL-contracted player list. If Monfries returns, things are as good as they will realistically get. Note that the Power 3rds (playing in the SANFL reserves comp) got well-beaten again—which historically would be unusual for a side dominating the SANFL league competition (their reserves might get beaten, but not consistently and/or only by small margins). The depth is not there compared with a 'real' SANFL club, which is not surprising.

Don't get me wrong—the current Port Adelaide Power 2nds/Magpies don't belong in the SANFL and a team with this configuration, and these priorities, shouldn't be playing in the SANFL league comp. I just don't agree that people are right when they claim that this team will be unbeatable, will sweep all before them on their way to the flag etc. At their strongest, quite possibly. But the chances they will remain at their strongest all year are pretty slim.

[Booney]

Here I was thinking this thread was going to discuss the Magpies and Eagles game.

Pretty sure every post match Magpies thread this season will be a waste of time.

[Booney]

Eagles 8.3 51
Power 15.19 109
Power far too dominant in all aspects. Believe it or not, the scoreboard flattered the eagles as the power hit the post a couple of times and most of their behinds were all shots on goal.

"Most" of them?

[sjt]

Here I was thinking this thread was going to discuss the Magpies and Eagles game.

Pretty sure every post match Magpies thread this season will be a waste of time.

Discuss away booney.

[Booney]

Here I was thinking this thread was going to discuss the Magpies and Eagles game.

Pretty sure every post match Magpies thread this season will be a waste of time.

Discuss away booney.

Take the thread off track and discuss the game with myself?

[sjt]

Here I was thinking this thread was going to discuss the Magpies and Eagles game.

Pretty sure every post match Magpies thread this season will be a waste of time.

Discuss away booney.

Take the thread off track and discuss the game with myself?

Yes, and anyone else that's interested.

[Booney]

Port's running power far too strong across the ground.

Bruggemann looks set for a big season of SANFL football with the big bloke simply holding his ground at clearances and giving the runners like Mitchell and Newton first look at the ball. He and Haren will give sides plenty of headaches matching up two big men with the likes of Renouf and Redden still to come into the side.

Neade and Stewart were good in attack, Neade showing he has lifted his off the ball work ethic. He needed to.

What teams will have to do to beat Port is deal with the defensive structure they set up. Glenelg and the Eagles have struggled to make it into the forward 50 with Port's defensive set up across the centre square / defensive 50 line. Without the ability to get the ball into Ports defensive 50 quickly, sides will struggle to score against us.

von Bertouch gave Butcher an absolute bath for the first two quarters before going where ever he was needed, knowing Butcher was unlikely to get within the same postcode as the ball. Jarrad was good for the Eagles, but in the defensive 50 he had plenty of opportunity to get his hands on it.McGregor and Bornholm was good for the Eagles, he battled well against Ports big men.

[Mr Fuller]

Port's running power far too strong across the ground.

Bruggemann looks set for a big season of SANFL football with the big bloke simply holding his ground at clearances and giving the runners like Mitchell and Newton first look at the ball. He and Haren will give sides plenty of headaches matching up two big men with the likes of Renouf and Redden still to come into the side.

Agreed Bruggemann looks very good. Apparently he was an eagles junior but was playing country footy the past 2 years which makes it all the more harder to take !! We would dearly love to have another ruckman of his size.

It would be interesting to see whether Port would play all three ruckman when renouf and redden return. Redden has the capability to play up forward but some sure the power would prefer he be given time in the ruck.

Eagles on the weekend missing Grocke, Ainger, Hall, Rowntree, Culley and Templeton from their best side. We will need them next time we play to have any chance

[areaman]

Yesterday I chose not to do something for the 1st time in over 15 years. I usually miss a few home games a year through other committments but yesterday was the 1st for deciding to do something else all together rather than head to Oval Ave for a home game.

The club did really well to get over 4,000 yesterday. They would have known 8,000 was unachievable but well done to actively promote the game and to get more than normal. I hope they made a killing at the cash register.

Normally I'd be annoyed at losing any game of football to Port. But yesterday's result left me mildly disappointed but I've moved on with a shrug of the shoulders. I wonder how enthusiastically Paul Stewart launched into singing "Cheer cheer the black & the white..."

I'll be at Unley this Sunday this weekend to watch two real SANFL clubs do battle.

The real dilemma occurs when we hit the finals - if the Eagles make it of course. Imagine a finals double header with both games featuring AFL Franchise reserves teams.

[The Panther]

One thing as a panther supporter i did do when the draw came out was see if we were playing either Adelaide or Port in the first few rounds.
My thoughts were they were always going to be dominant in the early part of the season. Then i believed and more so with Adelaide that they might drop off in the later part of the season with injuries both from AFL and SANFL.

A Port Magpies game without a passionate crowd - I shake my head .

[Phantom Gossiper]

Note that the Power 3rds (playing in the SANFL reserves comp) got well-beaten again—which historically would be unusual for a side dominating the SANFL league competition (their reserves might get beaten, but not consistently and/or only by small margins). The depth is not there compared with a 'real' SANFL club, which is not surprising.

I thought the 3rds was supposed to be predominately a development academy for Port? Given that's the case, surely cant expect great things early, and on top of that, if the SANFL side begins dominating then would Port look to blood some of these development kids into the league side?

[mickey]

The eagles were always going to struggle with a game plan that included pushing all 18 players into the defensive half of the ground when kicking WITH a 5-6 goal gale

[johntheclaret]

R.I.P SANFL

Sick of this reference. The Sanfl died years ago in terms of standard, probably due to excessive money in country leagues and the growing popularity in soccer. If an Sanfl side can't beat a bunch of talented kids who have only played against boys and underdone/out of form AFL players then the standard is shit. 10 years ago an afl reserves side would not get within 10 goals of a top 5 League side.

Yes but Port Power Reserves aren't just an AFL reserves side are they. Apart from their AFL listed players, they also retain bunch of experienced SANFL players. You forget they have a different set of rules to everyone else including the Crow Reserves.

[johntheclaret]

R.I.P SANFL

Sick of this reference. The Sanfl died years ago in terms of standard, probably due to excessive money in country leagues and the growing popularity in soccer. If an Sanfl side can't beat a bunch of talented kids who have only played against boys and underdone/out of form AFL players then the standard is shit. 10 years ago an afl reserves side would not get within 10 goals of a top 5 League side.

Well said... Spot on

Bollocks

[heater31]

even the bloody pom understands it yet 95% of PAFC supporters don't